Mourning Dove Rescue
May 19th, 2009 · 12 Comments
Josh noted some time ago that mourning doves are not the sharpest tools in the shed. Yesterday, we learned that they also aren’t the brightest birds in the coop after this one found itself hopelessly trapped in ours—despite the presence of the great big chicken door it went through in the first place. When I saw Josh go in to rescue it, I just knew he’d come out with the bird in his mitts. Sure enough.
Mourning doves are prettier than they are clever. They’re also quite trusting, as you can see here. But of course Josh is quite the wrangler of beasts.
Tags: Mourning Dove
12 responses so far ↓
1 Sir Inkalot // May 19, 2009 at 12:28 pm
And then I ate it whole, right then and there. Delicious!
2 Sir Inkalot // May 19, 2009 at 12:30 pm
And do note my clean fingernails.
3 Burdr // May 20, 2009 at 11:36 am
“Wrangler of beasts” is great. Loved the post and photos!
4 NCmountainwoman // May 20, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Doves indeed are not good at selecting nesting sites nor at taking care of them. Hopelessly lost in a chicken coop with a wide open door. Yep. That a dove for you.
5 Mary // Jun 4, 2009 at 8:33 am
Laughing silly here. They are the low-watt bulbs of the bird world.
6 fred // Jun 21, 2009 at 4:05 pm
found a deserted morning dove. i believe it’s starving. what can i feed it?
7 Iris // Jun 21, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Fred, If it’s a baby, you might try putting it back where you found it. If it fell out of the nest or if it recently fledged, its parents may very likely return for it once you’re out of sight. If it’s an adult, you can try sunflower seeds (without the hulls if it’s injured) or mealworms. Good luck!
8 LORI // Jun 25, 2009 at 10:25 pm
FOUND A MOURNING DOVE WITH A BAND. HOW DO I FIND THE OWNER??? ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED! THANK YOU.
9 Courtney // Jun 26, 2009 at 7:59 am
My dog injured a Mourning Dove yesterday (I don’t know how badly) and I don’t know what to do with it. I tried calling several wildlife rescue organizations but none of them are taking birds at this time and the Carolina Raptor Center’s voicemail is full. It has lived through 1 day and flutters around. I let it out when I got home last night to see if it could fly thinking maybe it had just been stunned, but it just flopped around and “ran”. What should I do?
10 ray // Sep 26, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I have a dove ,Igot it when it was 2 weekr old. I hand feed it with the right food ,and had to teach it how to start to eat seeds.After 2 months I still have it,and it`S DOING GREAT.I named it DRADE .If you find a baby bird you have to feed it the right food.If you can`t do it find some one who can.
11 Jessica // May 5, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I realize this discussion is almost a year old, but in doing some research I came across it and decided to post a question. We have found a dove in our office’s small warehouse. He seems to be confused as to where he is and how to get out. The warehouse has a very large and wide door with plenty of sunlight coming in; I would have thought that the dove would be able to find its way out. However, this is Day 2 and he is still up in the ceiling area in a very unaccessible place, surrounded by some pipes, wires, and what looks like insulation. I’ve tried to lure it by sounding some seeds and placing a bowl of seeds as close as I can (remember that he’s in a very inaccessible place). however, no luck. I’m worried that he will starve up there. I really want to help him out, but I don’t know how. Any help would be great! I hope someone reads this :-/
12 Iris // May 5, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Hey Jessica! Your dove is probably finding something to eat and even moving around when people aren’t nearby. You say the warehouse door’s open, so it could very well be flying in and out and nesting in there. It is nesting season after all.
If the bird is too high to grab, your best bet is to wave a rake or broom near it to encourage it to fly out—and then close the warehouse door. Unless it’s sick, don’t worry about it starving. Birds will get moving on their own when they’re hungry. Your bowl of seeds might actually encourage it to stay in the warehouse, so maybe put it outside instead.
Good luck!